Food quality poor

Commenting on various problems faced by railway passengers, Vijay Darda said, “The food supplied in trains is prepared in slums in Nagpur. The quality of this food is poor and there is possibility of food-poisoning. Bedsheets are not clean in air-conditioned bogies which swarm with cockroaches and rats.” To this, the Central Railway general manager Sunil Kumar Sood assured that all issues will be seriously dealt with and cockroach and rat menace will be tackled effectively.

World class facilities be provided at Nagpur railway station. Similarly, direct trains to Delhi, Mumbai and Udaipur be started from Nagpur besides immediately completing the pending railway projects, demanded members of Parliament from Nagpur and Bhusawal railway divisions unequivocally here on Wednesday.

The Central Railway had organised a meeting of MPs from Nagpur and Bhusawal railway divisions at DRM office here on Wednesday. The MPs from these two divisions vehemently raised the issues of passenger amenities and the facilities which need to be provided immediately.

Addressing the meeting, Darda said the concrete under the railway tracks on platforms number 1, 2 and 5 has given way. As a result, the sewerage on the tracks do not flow out resulting in persisting filth. Therefore, there is an urgent need to relay the concrete and improve the quality of aprons, he demanded.

Sunil Kumar Sood said green toilets are proposed to be installed very soon in future. Therefore, new aprons are not being sanctioned. To this, Darda asked whether the present situation would continue if the green toilets’ project is delayed by a few years.

Ajay Sancheti said, “Recently, a meeting of Metro Region was held in the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at Nagpur in which development of Nagpur and adjoining areas in next 50 years was discussed. Due to growing size of city and increase in commerce and trade, there is need to develop two termini in Nagpur like Bandra and Kurla. These termini should be developed as per world standards and maximum efforts should be taken in planning.”

He further said there are four toilets in AC 2 tier bogies out of which three are of Indian style and one is of western style. “Changes should be made and western style toilets should be increased,” he said. Sancheti also drew attention towards increasing theft cases in parcel van and said this is happening due to lack of coordination between ground police and railway police.

Sancheti said, “There is no coordination between people’s representatives and railway administration. If railway administration takes help of members of Parliament, railway projects pending with state government can be cleared. Many issues of Central Railway are pending. If information about these issues is made available to MPs, they can follow up the same in the railway budget. The railway administration should take initiative for this.”